With three-year term of Dr. Reza Baqir as Governor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) coming to an end on May 04, 2022, Dr. Murtaza Syed, the senior most Deputy Governor takes over as Governor of the central bank.
Dr. Syed an eminently qualified economist with rich experience of dealing with International Monetary Fund (IMF) will oversee the affairs of SBP and will be part of Pakistani team negotiating with the IMF, until the Government of Pakistan formally appoints new Governor of SBP.
According to the SBP, Dr. Syed has more than 20 years of experience in macroeconomic research and policy making and worked with the IMF for 16 years before resigning to join the State Bank of Pakistan. Dr. Syed has a PhD in economics from Nuffield College at the University of Oxford and has delivered lectures on public policy at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.
Earlier Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail had indicated in a tweet that the government would not be providing an extension to Dr, Reza Baqir.
"I want to thank Reza for his service to Pakistan. He is an exceptionally qualified man and we worked well during our brief time together. I wish him the very best," the minister had added.
Following Ismail's announcement, Dr. Baqir, in a series of tweets, thanked Allah and his fellow team members for giving him a chance to serve in the public office. "To other fellow Pakistanis, especially overseas, I encourage you to consider public service," he said.
The former governor also recalled the initiatives the SBP took during his tenure, such as Covid relief packages which included Rozgar payroll loans and hospital financing, Roshan Digital Account, Raast, a framework to licence digital banks in Pakistan, financial inclusion for women, affordable mortgages for lower-income groups and others.
"I want to especially thank Deputy Governors and SBP Corporate Management Team for your teamwork and support. I also want to thank the 4 Finance Ministers and 5 Finance Secretaries I worked with over my 3 years," he continued.
Dr. Baqir said that Pakistan faced several challenges but also possessed "great strengths" to counter them. "I am confident and hopeful that we as a country will make the right choices to overcome the challenges ahead of us," he added.
Meanwhile, the news of Dr. Baqir's term has termed as "loss for Pakistan" by politicians and analysts on Twitter.
Dr. Murtaza Syed was appointed as Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan by the Federal Government for a period of three years, in pursuance of Section 10(4) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956 (amended). He assumed his responsibilities on January 27, 2020.
ReplyDeleteDr. Syed has more than 20 years of experience in macroeconomic research and policy making. He worked with the IMF for 16 years before resigning to join the State Bank of Pakistan. Most recently, he served as Advisor in the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, overseeing the planning and implementation of IMF training and technical assistance programs around the world. Earlier, he was Deputy Division Chief in the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department and was involved in IMF programs and surveillance of various emerging markets and advanced economies, including Colombia, Cyprus, the Euro Area, Japan, and Korea. He also served as the IMF’s Deputy Resident Representative in China between 2010 and 2014 and as IMF mission chief to Macao. He started his career at the IMF in the Fiscal Affairs Department before moving to the Asia and Pacific Department, where he worked on a variety of emerging markets and developing countries.
Dr. Syed started his career in the late 1990s as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Islamabad-based Human Development Center under former Finance Minister of Pakistan, Dr Mahbub ul Haq. Later, he worked for the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, the UK's premier public policy think tank, where he conducted research projects on business investment and employment behavior, as well as evaluating two large Latin American antipoverty programs.
Dr. Syed has a PhD in economics from Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. He has published papers on a variety of macroeconomic issues, including fiscal and monetary policy, financial stability, economic crises, investment, demographics, poverty and inequality. He has also delivered lectures on public policy at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.
Dr. Syed no doubt is a qualified person and most of the period of his service was with IMF. My simple comments are that our Politician particularly when in opposition repeatedly say that Govt has sold the country to IMF and when they come in the power they continue to dialogue with IMF. We must admit that IMF support is necessary for the country.
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